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St. Croix Ironman 70.3 Preview: Unrelenting

Barry Siff Reports on the tough day of racing we’re expecting in St. Croix.

I have been to the St. Croix Ironman 70.3 five times now, and have always come away - and written about - the hills, heat, and humidity of this extremely challenging race. Well, after speaking with several pros on Friday at the practice swim, I have a new, more simple theme: "unrelenting."
Mary Beth Ellis ("MB") comes into the 70.3 on Sunday as the clear co-favorite with last year’s runner-up, Angela Naeth. After an incredible 2011 Ironman season, this will be MB’s first long-distance race of 2012. She knows what she’s in for. "It’s gonna be tough, with heat and humidity on the bike, and the run. The bike is (you guessed it) unrelenting," says MB. "If you’re not going up, you’re going down, sideways, and all sorts of directions," she laughs (kind of).

While I earlier reported that Angela Naeth - runner-up here last year, and winner of this year’s Panama 70.3 - should be Ellis’ main rival ... one former Ironman and ITU World Champion surprised us all on Friday, when she showed up for the morning practice swim: none other than Karen Smyers! She told us that she hadn’t done a whole lot of training this winter ... "But, all of a sudden, my training was feeling better and the biking came back a lot faster than expected." Once she decided to come to St. Croix, though, she had another big decision. At age 50, would/should she race as a pro, or as an age grouper? "After seeing Natasha (Badmann) win Ironman South Africa at age 45, I thought if she could win, all I want is to be in the prize money!" So, indeed, we will have the pleasure and opportunity to see this USA Triathlon Hall of Fame legend tackle the Beast one more time ... and race against other pros 25+ years younger! (sorry, Karen, had to throw that in there)

While Lance Armstrong and Andy Potts are certainly getting much of the attention in St. Croix on the men’s side, along with Belgian, Frederik Van Lierde, two 27 year-olds are eager to go: last year’s Champion, Maxim Kriat, Ukraine and, New Zealander, Terenzo Bozzone. Coming off a tough 2011 season, hampered with an achilles injury requiring surgery, Bozzone is ready to regain the status and stature he earned in 2008, when he won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, as well as 2010, when he was the Champion of Ironman 70.3 St. Croix. "I felt a lot of pressure to win early in the year, and be back to where I was straight away," the always affable Kiwi told me on Friday. "But, I backed off the pressure last week at St. Anthony’s, raced the race because I love the sport, and I enjoyed being out there, pushing my body to the limits." A strong 32:58 run (10K) helped Terrenzo to a solid sixth place against a stellar field in this Olympic-distance race. Asked about the St. Croix course, Bozzone used one word: "relentless."

Kriat, last year’s winner, is out to prove last year wasn’t a fluke. It was also his "dream" to race Lance Armstrong here. "This is my favorite course, and when I heard that he (Armstrong) was going to race Texas (Galveston), I said ‘why Texas, why not St. Croix?" Now, I will get to race him here, and it will add to my adrenaline," Kriat said on Friday. He also said he did not have the perfect race last year, that he made some mistakes that he does not intend on repeating. "This is the kind of course where your challenge is against the course, not against somebody." But, it is clear that Lance is on his - and everyone’s mind.

As for the "Lance Effect," it was evident on Friday at the practice swim. Race Director, Tom Guthrie, said that this was the largest Friday practice swim ever, and registration is 25% ahead of last year. With 800 volunteers lined up for Sunday, the athletes will be well attended to.

And, as for Lance, he not only brought out more swimmers on Friday; but, also, more media to St. Croix than ever, as well as the Governor of the Virgin Islands at a special reception for the professional athletes Friday evening. Everyone - including the Governor - was jockeying for pictures and autographs. Armstrong was most accommodating, reserved, and extremely professional. Interestingly, Terrenzo Bozzone told me that he felt one aspect of the "Lance Effect" would be to increase the professionalism of the pros, while also increasing media and sponsor attention.

And, oh yes, Lance doesn’t remember much from his first time here as a 16 year-old, racing in the very first "America’s Paradise Triathlon" in 1988, He does remember The Beast as "difficult ... extremely difficult," and added "[I] should never have been here" - I think a reference to really pushing himself toward the top of the top, against the very best, perhaps a bit early. Now, 24 years later, we’ll see how a much more mature, 40 year-old, seven time winner of the Tour de France can do against the young guns.

Barry Siff decided just last week not to race the 70.3, but will enjoy watching and reporting on the race this year. He is a member of the Timex Multisport and PowerBar Elite Teams, and is also on the USA Triathlon Board of Directors. He lives in Boulder, CO with his wife, Jodee, and dog, Jackpot.